Machine for slitting fabrics.



PATENTED AUG. 22, 1905.

J. A. CAMERON.

MACHINE FOR SLITTING FABRICS.

APPLICATION FILED D30. 21. 1904.

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INVENTOR ATTORNEY V? ABE! PATENTED AUG. 22, 1905.

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INVENTOR ATTORNEY J. A. CAMERON.

MACHINE FOR SLITTING FABRICS.

APPLICATION FILED 13180.21, 1904.

FIT

JAMES A. CAMERON, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

Manama roe strrrnae resale.

Specifioation of Letters Patent.

Patented, Aug. 22, 196 5.

Applicationfiled December 21, 1904. Serial No. 237,770.

R the machine and during its travel therethrough subdivided lengthwise into proper Widths, the latter being wound into the form of rolls.

I have utilized this invention in the production of suitable widths of fabric for the manufacture of hem-stitched handkerchiefs, the fabric fed through the machine, being slit into widths of suitable dimensions for handkerchiefs and being thereafter subdivided transversely into-blanks or sections for the individual handkerchiefs. I have also utilized this invention in subdividing silk into.

commercial widths. Silk is sometimes woven into wide widths of, say, seventy-two inches, and in the weaving these wide widths are intended to constitute, say, three sections of commercial widths of, say, twenty-four inches each, the sections being connected together by weft-threads and there being no warp-threads at these connecting points, each section being finished at its edges and the space between the sections and occupied by weft-threads being commonly called the doup. The sections of the wide wid th of silk are slit lengthwise along the doups into the several com mercial widths, and my invention has been utilized in performing this work.

My invention pertains to the class of machines made the subject of Letters Patent of the United States No. 697,985, granted April 22, 1902, to William B. Conrad and James A. Cameron for machines for slitting fabrics, and in presenting my invention herein I illustrate it as constituting certain improvements upon the machine and mechanism shown and described in said patent.

The present invention pertains more particularly to two novel features, one having relation to the knife or blade against which the traveling fabric passes and which slits the same lengthwise and the other to the means for securing the proper tension in the traveling fabric as it passes to the said knife. In the aforesaid Letters Patent there is illustrated a knife rigidly held in. the path of the fabric intermediate the tension device and feed-rollers, and in accordance with my present invention I present a new form of tension device and a new arrangement of the knife,

the knife in thepresent instance being rigidly held in opposition to the direct pressure exerted against it by the traveling fabric, but being swiveled so that it may (should the fabric at times not run truly) yield laterally to follow the doup or the proper line on which the fabric is to be slit. 1- also provide the knife with a wheel or pilot which will follow the doup and aid in keeping the knife therein. The tension device of the present invention is adjustable and may be adapted to the varying conditions of fabrics, so that a proper tension may be maintained upon the fabric at all times. The machine illustrated in the accompanying drawings is substantially the machine shown in the aforesaid Letters Patent less certain features rendered unnecessary by the present invention and with the features constituting the present invention embodied therein.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in Which Figure 1 is a central vertical longitudinal section, partly broken away, through a machine constructed in accordance with and embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a detached top view of a portion of same and illustrates the mechanism for shifting the tension device laterally of the table. Fig. 3 is a detached side elevation of that portion of the table carrying the tension device. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section through a portion of the table and tension device on the dotted 1111644 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section through the machine on the dotted line 5 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a detached enlarged side elevation of the knife mechan ism, the bar from which this knife is supported being shown in section on the dotted line 6 6 of Fig. .7. Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the knife mechanism. Fig. 8 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section through the holder or shoe for .the knife-blade, the latter being shown in side elevation; and Fig. 9 is a section of same on the dotted line 9 9 of Fig. 8.

The features of the present machine, which corresponds substantially with the machine shown in the aforesaid Letters Patent, and therefore requiring no special description herein, are the table 10, the feed-rollers 11 12 for the fabric, and the auxiliary rollers 13 14s, upon which the severed widths of fabric are rolled, the rollers 13 1% receiving their movement from driving-belts 15 16-, respectively, and the roller 12 receiving its movement from the belt 17, while the roller 11 merely rests upon the roller 12 and receives its motion therefrom.

The traveling fabric is designated by the numeral 18, and it passes from a suitable reel or other source over the rollers 19 20 at the front end of the table, thence over the tensionrods-21 22, and thence under tension to the knife mechanism 23, by which it is slit lengthwise into proper Widths, these widths being engaged and fed onward by the rollers 11 12 and finally being wound upon the respective rollers 13 1 .2, as described in the aforesaid Letters Patent,

The novel features of the present invention pertain to the knife mechanism 23 and to the tension-rods 21 22 and their parts, and hence the present description will be confined to these two novel mechanisms.

The tension-rod'22 is mounted at its reduced ends in vertical standards 2% and has at one end a hand-wheel 25, Fig. 5, and at its other end a ratchet-wheel 26, Fig. 3. The standard 2%, adjacent to the ratchet-wheel 26, has pivotally mounted on its outer face a pawl 27 to engage the said ratchet-wheel, and thereby prevent the rod 22 from turning under the tension of the fabric 18. The endportions of the rod 22 have rigidly secured upon them rearwardly-extending arms 28, in which is mounted the tension-rod 21. The fabric 18 extends along the lower and rear side of the rod 21, thence toward the front over said rod, and thence'under and around the front rod 22, whence it passes to the knife mechanism 23 and rollers 11 12, as shown in Fig. 1. The purpose of the hand-wheel 25, ratchet-wheel 26, and pawl 27 is to adjust the tension to be created by the rods 21 22 in the fabric. Should it be desired to lessen the tension on the fabric, the operator will ease the pawl 2"? from the ratchet-Wheel 26 and allow the rod 21 to assume a lower position than that shown in Fig. 1, and should it be desired to increase the tension on the fabric 18 the operator will by turning the hand-wheel 25, and through it the rod 22, cause the rod 21 to move up wardly. The rod 21 is movable upon the are of a circle of which the rod 22 is the axial center, and hence it is obvious that by turning the rod 22 in one direction or the other the tension exerted on the fabric 18 may be regulated at will. The pawl 27 and ratchet" wheel 26 will sustain the rod 21 in any position to which it may be moved. The rods 21 22, mounted and operated as described, con stitute an adjustable tension device of great eliicienoy.

The standards 24, in the upper ends of which the rod '22 is mounted, are secured upon a transverse plate 29, which. is adapted to he held and guided in clips or guides 30 and has at one end the rack-teeth 31, Fig. 5, in err gagement with the pinion-wheel carried. by an operating-rod 33, Fig. 2, which is mounted in suitable bearings 3e and extends to the front end of the machine, where it is provided with a. hand-wheel 35, The clip plates 30 form a raceway for the plate 29 and permit the latter to be moved laterally back and forth, as may be required. The raclo teeth 31, pinion-wheel 32, and rod 33 are provided as convenient means for efiec'ting the lateral movement of the plate 29. The plate 29 carries the standards 24'; and tension-rods 21 22, and hence these rods will be moved lat orally with every adjustment of the plate 29. It has been found in practice that the fabric 18, due to its texture and other causes, will from time to time depart from a true course through the machine and sometimes sway or creep toward the right and at other times toward the left from such course, and to correct this condition and restore the traveling fabric to its true course through the machine is the purpose of the lateral adjustment of the tension-rods 21 22. When it is found that the traveling fabric is creeping toward the right from its true course, the plate 29 and rods 21 22 will be shifted laterally toward the left for the purpose, through the friction of the fabric against the rods 21 22, of drawing the fabric from its diverging line back to its true line of travel through the machine, and when it is found that the fabric is diverg ing toward theleft from its true line of travel the plate 29 and rods 2122 will be shifted. toward the right for the purpose of returning the traveling fabric to its proper course through the machine. The tension device is thus not only adjustable for increasing or diminishing the tension to be placed upon the traveling fabric, but it may be adjusted laterally, so as to correct any tendency of the fabric While moving through the machine to depart from its true course;

The knife mechanism is more clearly illus trated in Figs. 1, 6, 7, 8, and 9 and comprises a blade 36, held in a shoe or holding-frame 37, which is secured to the lower end of a plate 38, suspended upon a pintle 39 from a hanger 40, which is in the form of a box-loop encompassinga transverse rod all, secured in standards e2 42, Fig. 5. The pintle 39 extends longitudinally of the machine, and hence holds the blade 36 rigidly with respect to the longitudinal pressure which may be exerted against it by the traveling fabric; but said pintle will permit a lateralhinge or pivotal movement of the plate 38, shoe 37, and blade 36,- so that the latter may follow the doup in the fabric should the latter depart from its true course while traveling through the machine. The shoe 37 is formed with a longi- Wi l, "791 tudinal recess or slot to snugly receive the formance of which the blade 36 will return blade 36, and this blade is secured within the shoe 37 by means of a screw 4-3. The blade 36 may be removed from the shoe 3'? when it is desired to sharpen the same. The shoa comprises two substantially right-- angular arms at 45, the arm at holding the blade 36 and the arm 4:5 being" bifurcated to receive the lower end of the" plate 38, to which it is adjustably secured by means of the screw (t6: Upon the screw as, the outer sides of the arm 4-5, are washers 47, Fig, 7, which by tightening the screw t6 may be caused to clamp the sections of the arm 45 against the opposite faces of the lower end of the plate 38. When the machine is in use, the shoe 3? will. be rigid with the plate 38; but the screw all enables the adjustment of the blade 36* with respect to the inclination at which it shall stand when in use; The blade 36 should of cours stand at an. inclined position with respect to the line of travel of the fabric, and by means of the screw t6 this inclination may be varied in accordance with the nature of th'efa ric and to attain the best results, The arm 44 of the shoe 37 extends into close relation to the cutting edge of the blade 3.6 and adjacent to said edge presents laterally-entending' ribs or thick portions 48, which perform an important duty during the movement of the doup along the path of the blade 36 in that the said portions 43 will engage the somewhat stiff edges of the sections or intended widths of the fabric, and thereby, even though the fabric should not run truly, aeenpthe blade 36 centrally inv the line of the doup, the blade mechanism swaying? laterally under the pres-- sure of the edges of the said widths or sections should they not be traveling on a true line. One advantageous feature of the knife mechanism is therefore the providing of the ribs or thick portions 4:8 close to the cutting edges of the hinged blade 36, so that the latter shall only haven limited extent of its edge exposed and may be controlled by the engagement of the edges of the doup with said portions 48, Another advantageous feature connected with thehnifemechanism is in. pivotally mounting the blade so that it may have a lateral movement and be enabled to follow the doup in the fabric at such times as the fabric may depart from its true path through the machine and. then continue to follow the doup upon the restoration of the fabric to its true path. 1 have provided the plate 38 with a plummet 4:9, which will always hang vertically, and therefore will apprise the operator of the extent to which the blade 36 may have been carried by any divergence of the fabric from its true vertical position, the purpose being that the operator if he sees that the blade has departed substantially from its true vertical position shall shift the tcnsion-rollcrs laterally in the proper direction to correct the fabric in its line of travel, upon the per to its true vertical position and the plummet 49- will stand within the slot provided for it in the plate 38. l also provide the plate 38 with an arm 50 ,holtling a toothed wheel 51 in close relation to the point at which the fab ric engages the blade 36, the teeth of the wheel 51 being" sharnpointed and said arm 50 being adjustably secured by means of ascrew 52, that the Wheel 51 maybe moved nearer or farther from the blade 36 at will. The wheel 51 is a pilot or guiding wheel, and it aids the blade 36 in correctly following the doup, the teeth of the wheel 5Lengaging the weft threads of the doup and operating through the arm 50 and plate 38- in causing the blade 36 to keep within the line of the doup. The pilot-wheel is not a necessity for the blade 36,bnt it is an aid to the blade, and the importance insubdividing the widths of sill-c, of not cuttinginto the edges of the sections intended for the commercial widths, is such that it is advisable to make use of every possible means for accomplishing that resulti The pilot 51 is also of importance aside from directing the blade 36 along the donp in holdinc: the fabric down in close proximity to the cutting edge of the blade, this also tending; to the cuttiug'of the fabric, whether of silt; or other material, on a true longitudinal line.

The operation of the machine will be substantially understood from the description l'iereinbefore presented. The fabric travels through the machine and is slit into widths by the blade 36, and these widths are Wound upon the rollers 13 14:. The traveling fabric is under tension between the tension-rods $21 22 and feed-rollers 11 12, and the blade 36 is disposed at an angle to the traveling fabric at a point intermediate the said tension device and the said feed-rollers, one portion of the blade'being below the fabric and another portion thereof above the fabric and fabric between the said tension device and feedrollers being in suspension or unsupported and held taut by the tension therein.

I do not limit my invention to the special form of the framework and table of the ma--- chine nor to the details of construction other than as may be pointed out in the claims. The novel features of my invention pertain to the tension device and to the slittinp mechair ism, and these features I desire to claim broadly and without regard to the details of the other mechanical parts of the machine.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A machine for slitting a traveling fabric into longitudinal widths comprising a tension device for engagingand acting on the entire width of fabric, and means for drawing the fabric under tension through the machine, combined with a knife-blade set in the path of said fabric as it leaves said tension device, means for holding said blade rigid in opposition to the longitudinal force exerted by the traveling fabric, means for permitting said knife-blade to yield laterally with any diver-- gence of the traveling fabric from its direct course, and the toothed wheel carried by the knife-support and adapted to engage the fabric immediately in advance of the cuttingpoint; substantially as set forth.

2. A machine for slitting a traveling fabric into longitudinal widths comprising a tension device for engaging and acting on the entire width of the fabric, and means for drawing the fabric under tension through the machine, combined with the knife mechanism holding a blade in the path of said fabric as it leaves said tension device for slitting the same, said mechanism comprising a plate suspended from a rigid part of the machine, means pivotally securing said plate at its upper end for permitting said plate to swing laterally, a shoe secured by a set-screw to the lower end of said plate, and a blade mounted Within said shoe on an inclination to the line of the fabric moving toward it, said screw permitting the inclination of said blade to be adjusted at will; substantially as set forth.

3. A machine for slitting a traveling fabric into longitudinal widths comprising a tension device for engaging and acting on the entire width of the fabric, and means for drawing the fabric under tension through the machine, combined with the knife mechanism holding a blade in the path of said fabric as it leaves said tension device for slitting the same, said mechanism comprisinga plate suspended from a rigid part of the machine, means pivotally securing said plate at its upper end for permitting said plate to swing laterally, a shoe carried by the lower end of said plate, a blade mounted in said shoe to slit the traveling fabric, and means carried by said plate for engaging the upper surface of the fabric close to said blade and keeping the same down against said blade; substantially as set forth.

4. A machine for slitting a traveling fabric into longitudinal widths comprising a tension device for engaging and acting on the entire width of the fabric, and means for drawing the fabric under tension through the machine, combined with the knife mechanism holding a blade in the path of said fabric as it leaves said tension device for slitting the same, said mechanism comprising a plate suspended from a rigid part of the machine, means pivotally securing said plate at its upper end for permitting said plate to swing laterally, a shoe carried by the lower end of said plate, a blade mounted in said shoe to slit the traveling fabric, and the toothed wheel carried by said plate and adapted to engage the upper surface of the fabric close to the cutting edge of said blade; substantially as set forth.

5. A machine for slitting a traveling fabric rods transversely for correcting any diver genes in the travel of the fabric from its direct course; substantially as set forth;

6. A machine for slitting a traveling fabric into longitudinal widths comprising a tension device for engaging and acting on the width of the fabric, means for drawing, the fabric under tension through the machine, and a knife-blade set in the path of said fabric as it leaves said tension device for slitting the same, said tension device comprising the transverse rods 21, 22, standards supporting the rod 22, arms carried by said rod and supporting the rod 21, a ratchet on the rod 22, and a pawl for engaging said ratchet and locking the rod 21 in its adjusted positions; substantially as set forth.

7. A machine for slitting a traveling fabric into longitudinal widths comprising a tension device for engaging and acting on the width of the fabric, means for drawing the fabric under tension through the machine, and a knife-blade set in the path of said fabric as it leaves said tension device for slitting the same, said tension device comprising the transverse rods 21, 22, standards supporting the rod 22, arms carried by said rod and supporting the rod 2Lwhereby the latter may be adjusted on the arc of a circle of which the rod 22 is the center, means for sustaining the rod 21 in its adjusted positions, a-transverse plate supporting said standards, and a rack and pinion for shifting said plate. and rods laterally, as may be required; substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 20th day of December, A. D. 1904.

JAMES A. CAMERON.

Witnesses:

CHAS. C. GILL, ARTHUR MARION. 

